Interview with Author Elissa Malcohn

[Michelle L Devon (Michy)]

Published since the 1970s, Elissa Malcohn was a 1985 John W. Campbell Award finalist for best new science fiction writer of the year for her novelette "Lazuli" (Asimov's, Nov. 1984). Her story "Moments of Clarity" (Full Spectrum, Bantam, 1988) reached preliminary ballot for a 1989 Nebula Award, given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. She edited Star*Line (journal of the Science Fiction Poetry Association) from 1986-1988 and was a four-time Rhysling Award nominee for best speculative poem.
Publications also include but are not limited to Aboriginal Science Fiction; Amazing Stories; Aurora; Beacon Review; Black Maria; Burning With a Vision: Poetry of Science and the Fantastic (R. Frazier, Ed., Owlswick Press); Diarist's Journal; The Drabbler; Dreams & Nightmares; Earth's Daughters; Empire; Encore: Prize Poems of the NFSPS 2004 (National Federation of State Poetry Societies); Harp Strings Poetry Journal; Harvard Business Review; Hoboken Terminal; I Name Myself Daughter, And It Is Good (M. Honton, Ed., Sophia Books); Ice River; Kantele; The Magazine of Speculative Poetry; The Official Newsletter of the Horror Writers Association; Poets' Forum Magazine; Portland Review; Reed; Rhysling Anthology; The River Reader; The Round Table; Sage Woman; Samisdat; San Fernando Poetry Journal; The 2nd Annual SFPA Poetry Contest 2007: Sonnets (W.G. Stewart, M.L. Tentchoff, & S. Virtes, Eds., Spec House of Poetry); Star*Line; Tales of the Unanticipated; Uranus; Velocities; We'Moon; Win Magazine; Yellow Silk; and Z Miscellaneous.


Author Interview: Elissa Malcohn

It's rare today to find an author who does nothing but write for a living. Do you have a 'real' job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you've had in your life?

I run a one-person communications business that includes writing, editing, tape transcription, word processing, and teaching. I have also sold picture research services, calligraphy, personalized sonnets for all occasions, photography, and mixed-media art. I held my first salaried job at age 16. In the summer of 1975 I was a civil service clerk typist in the U.S. Army's Military Ocean Terminal, Brooklyn. Temp work, which I performed during breaks from school and in-between permanent positions, exposed me to a broad range of industries, people, and experiences. I served as departmental secretary while obtaining my bachelor's and as a teaching and research assistant while obtaining my master's, both in psychology. In my more permanent jobs I performed "value added" writing and editing tasks in addition to office support work. Throughout, I have supplemented my "day job" with freelance work or have freelanced fulltime, which I do currently.

What compelled you to write your first book?

After writing several short stories beginning in grade school, I wrote my first novel when I was 15 because I wanted to consolidate elements of a rich fantasy life. At that time I was growing up in Brooklyn and the major publishing houses were a subway ride away. When I got past the query letter stage I hopped on the train and delivered my manuscript in person. I got to meet and speak with Donald A. Wollheim (science fiction writer, editor, publisher, and founder of DAW Books) that way. His encouraging rejection letter to me began, "A curious work…and possibly an over-ambitious effort," and advised me to keep honing my craft. My first published book, Deviations: Covenant, began as a short story in 1985. The impetus for the Deviations series came from Joseph Payne Brennan's 15-line poem, "When Tigers Pass" (Sixty Selected Poems, The New Establishment Press, 1985), which deals with extinction and deification. Further inspiration came from anthropologist Michael Harner's article, "The ecological basis for Aztec sacrifice" (American Ethnologist, February 1977).

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I began writing stories when I was ten and submitting them in high school. It wasn't a question of wanting to be a writer. I wrote. What I would be when I grew up included whatever would support my craft, because I figured early on that I would need a day job. I considered myself to be a bonafide writer when I received my first rejection slip, from Galaxy magazine, in the early 1970s. To me, that represented my first real, direct contact with the publishing industry, and I was thrilled.

Tell us a little bit about your book/s.

Covenant, the first volume of my Deviations series, was released by Aisling Press in 2007. The second volume, Appetite, will be released in September 2008. The Deviations series centers on the conflicts experienced by two peoples, Yata and Masari. Their problems began when the species they drove to extinction included those possessing nutrients necessary to Masari survival, leaving the Yata as the only source of those nutrients. The series focuses on the social, ethical, and spiritual dilemmas surrounding the literal cannibalism of the societies involved, the ways in which their different communities feed off each other, and the ways in which key members on both sides break the rules. Covenant focuses on the religion that defines the Masari village of Crossroads and the Yata village of Basc. The Yata acquiesce to being hunted out of economic necessity. They have lost their skills of self-sufficiency and subsist on tithes from the Masari. Generations of indoctrination have also made them into the Masari's gods. More than anything, the Covenant religion serves as a safety valve that ensures a workable population balance, a sustained environment, and peace outside the hunts. But underlying that balance is a morass of tension, guilt, and resentment. TripStone, an accomplished but reluctant Masari hunter, is charged with the ritual slaying of Yata. Her comrade Ghost tries to end Masari dependence on Yata meat by performing experiments punishable by death. His jeopardy increases when he shelters a teenage runaway sickened by fasting. Their worldview shatters when they harbor a Yata woman raised to be livestock instead of a god. But Crossroads itself is imperiled. Hidden in the far woods, a secret Yata militia is preparing to alter the balance of power.

Are you currently working on any writing projects our readers should watch for release soon?

In addition to continuing the Deviations series, I'm working on short fiction projects and have both short fiction and poetry forthcoming. Short fiction will appear in the online magazine Helix, the print magazine Electric Velocipede, and the anthologies Riffing on Strings: Creative Writing Inspired by String Theory (Scriblerus Press), and Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet (Dark Scribe Press). Poetry is forthcoming in Asimov's, Space and Time, and We'Moon. Outside the genre, an article is forthcoming in Poets' Forum Magazine, which will also use one of my photographs on its cover.

Have you ever won any writing awards? If so, what?

My novelette "Lazuli" (Asimov's, Nov. 1984) placed me on the final ballot for the John W. Campbell Award, given at the World Science Fiction Convention to the best new science fiction writer of the year. My story "Moments of Clarity" (Full Spectrum, Bantam, 1988) reached preliminary ballot for a Nebula Award, given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. My story "Choreographer" won the 1983 New England Science Fiction Association Short Story Award and the 1985 River Reader Prize. My first published short story, "Black Magic," not only won the Dale C. Donaldson Memorial Award given by Karmic Runes, but the magazine created that award specifically for my submission in 1977. In 1972 I received the Read Magazine Creative Writing Award. Among my poetry awards are honorable mentions in the Lyric College Contest and the Marie Louise D'Esternaux Award (Brooklyn Poetry Circle) in 1976; four Rhysling Award nominations for the best speculative poetry of the year, given by the Science Fiction Poetry Association; first place and other awards in contests of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies and the Florida State Poets Association; and awards in the Indiana and Minnesota state poetry competitions. In 2002 I was co-winner of The Sea Shell Game #53 for haiku, at ahapoetry.com. Most recently, my poem "Forest Dragons" received honorable mention in the SFPA's Second Annual Poetry Contest, which focused on sonnets. That poem and "Salvage," which made the top ten, appear in a collection of the contest's best entries, published in 2007 by Spec House of Poetry.

How did you feel the day you held the copy of your first book in your hands?

Sleep-deprived and a little stunned. Covenant debuted at Necronomicon, Tampa's annual science fiction/fantasy/horror convention, in 2007. The first copy I saw was actually 24 copies arranged on an Aisling Press sales table, not long after I had arrived at the Hyatt in the wee hours of the morning. That feeling mellowed into one of deep satisfaction, especially since I had sent out my first query letter to a publisher (for the first novel I'd ever written) more than 30 years earlier.

What inspires you and motivates you to write the very most?

Writing is a voyage of discovery for me, and life compels me to write. Inspiration comes from anywhere, but what all those sources have in common is a combination of ideas -- usually a fusion of different ideas -- and emotional resonance. I throw problems at my characters and then work with them to solve those problems. "Arachne," which originally appeared in Aboriginal SF (Nov./Dec. 1988) and will be reprinted in Riffing on Strings, is one example of how my process works. Two articles, both published in November 1986, gave me my inspirational spark. The first was "Spider Madness," by Dava Sobel, in Omni. The second was “Everything’s Now Tied to Strings,” by Gary Taubes, in Discover. I overlaid the two ideas, relating spider webs and weaving to cosmic string theory. The Greek Gods, by Evslin, Evslin, and Hoopes (Scholastic Inc., 1966) introduced me to Greek myth when I was a child. One of my favorite stories was about Arachne, in which a girl skilled at weaving died and was turned into a spider. I thought Arachne had gotten a raw deal, because her craft and her talent ultimately condemned her to death. A girl of low birth couldn't compete with the gods. I identified with her struggle and with her obsession to create. In my sequel to the myth, I revived the old rivalry between Arachne and the goddess Athene, only this time Arachne wasn't trying to win a weaving contest. She wove to save the universe itself, in a way that forced the ancient rivals to work together to survive.

What one thing are you the most proud of in your life?

If I can convey my own corner of the human condition in a way that helps other individuals, I couldn't ask for better. I had no inkling of the attention that "Lazuli" would get, but what affected me most was learning that it has helped some readers deal with their own trauma of abuse. I had drafted "Lazuli" after attending one of Ellen Bass's "I Never Told Anyone" workshops. Part of the story's text is taken from writing I did as part of that workshop. I enjoy being a facilitator. Many people want to express themselves but are intimidated by the act of writing. I gear my teaching toward overcoming that intimidation. Often people come to a free-writing group I conduct, claim they "can't write," and then surprise themselves. If they are looking or ready for criticism, I direct them to a local critique group in which I am also active, and which has helped me.

What about your family? Do you have children, married, siblings, parents? Has your family been supportive of your writing?

My partner Mary has been with me since 1995 and serves as my editor, sounding board, and technical consultant. She also gives me extraordinary emotional support. We met in a group called "Women Writing" at the Cambridge Women's Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I am an only child and am childless by choice. My mother taught high school English. Between her retirement in 1980 and her death in 1982, she wrote more than a dozen short stories and more than 100 poems, several of them literally on her deathbed. We became creative allies during her last years, sharing drafts, rejections, acceptances, and publications. Both my parents were musicians, but my love of music and its power in my life comes mainly from my father, who died in 2002. He taught piano, organ, and accordion; performed radio concerts as a child; and belonged to an "entertainment corps" in World War II. Growing up, I was not allowed to write for more than an hour each day because my parents worried that my schoolwork would suffer. I composed many of my earliest stories in the middle of the night, hiding my notebook and flashlight under the covers. Otherwise, my parents were very supportive of my creative life. When I was 16 they let me join a science fiction fandom group that put me in contact with writers and editors and whose Friday night meetings ran into the wee hours of the morning.

The main characters of your stories -- do you find that you put a little of yourself into each of them or do you create them to be completely different from you?

Even if my characters lead lives completely different from mine, I develop them out of my own emotional base. Some characters are more closely related to me than others. "The S.O.B. Show" (Asimov's, mid-December 1986) borrows directly from my five years of volunteer work in a planetarium. When I created the villains in Deviations, I had to reach into my darkest emotions and my vulnerabilities to give those characters dimension and to make them sympathetic in spite of their actions. Likewise, the protagonists in Deviations have their own internal problems to overcome.

Is there an established writer you admire and emulate in your own writing? Do you have a writing mentor?

Within the SF genre and in my current and recent reading, I especially admire the work of Stephen Baxter. Outside the genre, it is John McPhee. I don't seek to emulate them so much as to learn from them. On more than one occasion I have stopped my reading, scribbled down a passage from their work, and then written why it affected me so strongly. The first passage I ever copied down because it blew me away was from Samuel R. Delaney's Dhalgren, when I was 15.

When growing up, did you have a favorite author, book series, or book?

Peter Graham's adage, "The golden age of science fiction is twelve," literally applies to me. Two stories in particular, both published in 1970, galvanized me as a child. One was Norman Spinrad's novella, "The Lost Continent" (in Science Against Man, Anthony Cheetham, ed., Avon). The other was Harlan Ellison's "One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty" (in Orbit 8, Damon Knight, ed., G.P. Putnam’s). I especially loved reading anthologies and began with Alpha One, edited by Robert Silverberg.

What about now: who is your favorite author and what is your favorite genre to read?

Most of what I'm currently reading is nonfiction, but within the SF genre I am highly enjoying Stephen Baxter's Time's Tapestry series. When I truly love a book, I buy and send copies of it to friends. Examples have included Baxter's Evolution; Anita Diamant's The Red Tent; Lynn Margulis' and Dorion Sagan's Microcosmos; and Bruce Chatwin's The Songlines, which provided the epigraph for Covenant.

Bring us into your home and set the scene for us when you are writing.

I painted my studio walls sky blue, using alizarin crimson paint on the door trim and gold paint on the ceiling trim. Artwork, mine and others', covers much of the wall space. I have removed the sliding closet doors to leave that space open, and the closet contains art supplies and filled three-ring binder notebooks. In one of the studio corners stands a shrine containing artifacts from various spiritual disciplines, of which my favorite is a statue of Sarasvati. According to Merlin Stone in her book Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood (Beacon Press 1984), Sarasvati is "revered as the presiding deity of the arts: music, painting, carving, and especially associated with the acquisition of writing." My desk is a wood board set atop two-drawer filing cabinets and is where I do my writing on a laptop. When drafting a story I am usually headphoned into music (mostly modern classical, but also jazz, world beat, and rock) and drinking black coffee. My lighting comes from a lamp whose base is a deep blue marbled vase, and which belonged to my maternal grandmother. Beside my desk is an old steamer trunk containing dozens of journal notebooks spanning decades. The earliest is a diary I kept when I was six. In addition to working on my laptop, I carry a journal with me. The journal contains what I call my raw data: story notes, dreams, to-do lists, rants, observations, overheard dialogue, brainstorming, contact information, and anything else I want to get down on paper. I have written in my journal on planes, trains, automobiles, boats, hiking trails, park benches, the couch, the patio; and in hospitals, waiting rooms, subway stations, bus shelters, supermarket checkout lines, cafes, fast food tables -- in short, anywhere.

Do you watch television? If so, what are your favorite shows? Does television influence or inspire your writing?

Like my reading, most of my current TV viewing focuses on nonfiction. My favorite channels include The History Channel, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, and Animal Planet. I rarely watch shows on a regular basis, but those I enjoy include The Dog Whisperer, Meerkat Manor, Modern Marvels, Mythbusters, The Universe, and miniseries like Planet Earth. Some shows give me ideas that I try to develop further. I'm currently drafting a story inspired by Anderson Cooper's segment on environmental racism in CNN's "Planet in Peril." I have a special fondness for all the Star Trek franchises. I watched Trek from its beginnings in 1966, when I was seven years old. When the original series went off the air in 1969, I started writing my own adventures because I missed the show so much. Soon thereafter I began writing non-Trek science fiction.

Is there anyone you'd like to specifically acknowledge who has inspired, motivated, encouraged or supported your writing?

My partner Mary has served as my editor, sounding board, and technical consultant. She also shares me with the creative urges that often pull me into a closed room and is my biggest cheerleader. My childhood friend Elana, whom I've known since 1970, was there for me in the beginning as a creative soulmate. I wrote some of my earliest work as we sat scribbling side by side. We illustrated our stories with the help of her comic books and tracing paper. There are many others I could name, but Mary and Elana are my top two.

Now, use this space to tell us more about who you are. Anything you want your readers to know?
Book location information, links to my blogs, creative writing workshops I've given, my bibliography, and links to other forms of my creative output (photos, music, art, etc.) can be found on my website, http://home.earthlink.net/~emalcohn/index.html.

A Web search for "Malcohn's World" will also supply the link.

I live by two maxims that I tell my students: (1) Keep asking questions, and (2) Nothing is wasted. "Keep asking questions" applies everywhere -- in class, in writing, and in life. Questions are the life blood of character development, plot development, and world-building. My story notes are discussions and sometimes arguments with myself on paper: If my character does (A), what will happen versus if my character does (B)? What tone do I want to convey? What is the focus of my scene? And so on.

"Nothing is wasted" also has universal application. For more than a decade I worked multiple shifts and my creative writing output plummeted. But the experiences and emotions I faced during those years form the marrow of my writing now.